Redeemed
by waterphoenix1985
Summary: Faith has been released from prison. She's in L.A. and wants to team up with Angel. Faith finds out that The First is back. Can Angel and Faith beat him in corporeal form? Completed Story
1. Prologue

**Redeemed**

**Prologue**

**This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fan Fiction based on the character, Faith. Joss Whedon owns all rights to the show, and I am not claiming ownership of any names or references in the fan fiction.**

"Help me!" the girl screamed as she ran from her pursuer. Night had fallen a few moments before the chase, and the girl's pursuer had come seemingly from nowhere in the darkness. It had been the girl's first time taking a shortcut through the graveyard, and she regretted her decision completely now.

She continued running, knowing in her mind that the thing that pursued her was still following. She looked back to see how close to her he was, and she tripped on a branch that had fallen from the tree above her. She landed on the ground, roughly, and twisted her ankle in the process. She limped back up into a standing position, and there in front of her was her pursuer.

"My, my." He said in a dark, mysterious tone. "What happened? Did you fall down?" He grinned evilly at her.

"Please leave me alone." The girl pleaded. "Please don't hurt me."

Her pursuer smiled coldly once more, and then his face changed. He now bore teeth that were long and sharp, and he now had a disfigured face. His eyes became yellowed with thin, black pupils.

The girl screamed and turned to run, but before she could turn completely around, he was there again, in front of her.

"Don't run away, the fun's just beginning." He said, baring his teeth at her. He reached for her, and before she could get away he had her arm. He pulled her toward her with unnatural strength, and before the girl could think about what was happening to her, her neck was exposed to his teeth.

He started to bite down on her neck, but someone grabbed his shoulder and flung him around. The girl fell to the ground, and back away slowly.

"What's going on?" the new girl said, confidently.

"Who the hell are you?" the attacker demanded of the girl who had interrupted him from eating his meal.

"The name's Faith." She said. "Can I ask who you might be?"

"Slayer!"

"No, I think you're confused." Faith said. "You see, _I'm_ the slayer…."

Suddenly she pulled a stake from her jacket and plunged it deep into the vampire's heart. He screamed in rage, as he turned into nothing more than a pile of dust.

"… and you're dust!" she finished.

She turned around and looked at the girl that was sitting on the ground, sobbing. She walked over to her, and reached her hand down to her. This just made the girl back away again.

"Please don't hurt me." The girl cried.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Faith said, "Take my hand."

The girl hesitated for a moment, and then took Faith's outstretched hand. Faith pulled the girl up, and made sure she could stand before she let go.

"You should probably go home now." Faith told her.

"What was that thing?" the girl asked. "It was so hideous."

"Yeah, he wasn't much of a looker was he?" Faith grinned at the girl, trying to lighten the mood. When she saw that it wasn't helping, she added, "Don't worry about him. He won't bother you anymore."

The girl thought about this for a moment. She turned to pick up her bag, and when she stood back up she looked to ask, "Hey, he was so powerful, how did you…."

She stopped, because when she turned around, Faith was gone.


	2. Faith is Back

**Redeemed**

**Chapter 1**

**This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fan fiction based on the character, Faith. I do not own any name or reference in this fan-fiction, and all rights concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon.**

**Note: There is reference in this chapter about Spike being in Rome with Buffy. They are NOT dating. I just wanted to point that out.**

Faith left the graveyard after killing the vampire, quickly, so that the girl wouldn't have time to ask her questions. Life was dangerous enough as it was, and knowing about all the things that went bump in the night would only make living it more difficult.

She was on her way to Wolfram and Hart when she had heard the scream. It had just been coincidence that the girl wasn't dead now. After the fight with The First, she had gone back to prison, and now that she had been officially released, it felt good to be on the right side of the fight against the forces of darkness.

She walked at a casual pace, enjoying her night in Los Angeles. Angel didn't know she was coming, because she thought she would surprise him when she arrived. It wasn't long before she rounded the corner and saw the gigantic law firm. She took a minute to take in the scene.

"Seems a lot bigger than last time I was here." She said to herself as she walked in the door.

She went to the front desk, surprised that most of the law firm's previous employees were still here after Angel had taken over ownership of the L.A. branch.

"Can I help you?" the secretary asked Faith when she walked up to the desk.

"Yeah," Faith replied, "I'm here to see Angel."

"Do you have an appointment with Mr. Angel?"

"No, just tell him Faith is here to see him, and I'm sure he'll clear it for you."

The secretary picked up her phone and dialed the extension for Angel's office. It rang about twice and then someone picked up the phone on the other end.

"Harmony," the secretary said, "this is Kat at the front desk with a girl named Faith here to see Angel. Could you ask him if he has a free moment please?"

There was a pause in the conversation, and then the secretary put down the phone. She looked up at Faith, who was looking around the lobby casually, waiting for the secretary to finish her conversation.

"Faith," she said, "Angel will see you now."

Faith smiled at the secretary. "I told you he wouldn't mind."

She walked to the elevator and pushed the "A" on the panel. Wow, she thought, Angel has really stepped up in the world. He's got his own button and everything.

She rode the elevator up to the top floor and stepped out. She looked around. At first she thought she was on the wrong floor, because this one was covered with windows up and down the halls. Then, Angel came out of the office in front of her.

Faith jumped into Angel, taking him down to the floor with her. "Are you crazy!" she yelled at him. "Do you want to be a flame on legs?"

"Faith, it's fine." He said. "The windows are enchanted. Sunlight can come in, and it doesn't hurt me."

The two of them got up off of the floor, and she kind of grinned. She felt really stupid now. Of course they would take precautions against sunlight in the law firm.

"I'm glad to see you too." Angel said, with a kind of half smile.

"Sorry."

"So, are they allowing you to have time out now?" he asked, glad to see her out and about.

"No, Angel. I'm out for good. Today was my release date." She said beaming.

"No way." Angel replied. He ran back into his office and soon ran back out with a calendar in his hand. He pointed at a date on the calendar. "Look, it says that this is your release date."

"Angel," she said, "That's today."

Angel took another look at the calendar in his hand, thought for a moment, and then said, "You're right, it is."

Faith walked around a little bit, and then walked into Angel's office. He followed her, and they continued the conversation as she examined his huge office.

"Wow, Angel, you really need to get out of the office and away from all of these cases." She said, picking up a stack of papers and examining them. "They're starting to make you lose track of time."

"I'm sorry, Faith." He said. "I was going to come and get you today."

She shuffled nervously and then took a seat across from his desk. "Don't worry about it. I'm five by five and you probably shouldn't be out in the heat, what with the vampire-ness and all."

Angel considered this as an acceptance of his apology. He felt really bad about not being there to see her on her release date. It was a big day for her, and she had had a rough past. She had a lot to atone for and she had asked him if she could come and help him at Wolfram and Hart when she was released. He had of course said yes, and had told her that he would be there on her release day to get her. With everything that had been going on lately, he had completely forgotten about her.

"So," Faith said, "What's the case on hand?"

Faith was anxious to get started with the big bad fighting again. She hadn't been able to relieve the tension of fighting while she was in jail. Except for the occasional beat down of someone who had it out for her, she hadn't been able to relieve her need for violence.

Angel walked and sat down at his desk. He took a long look at the big stack of papers that was sitting on his desk. There were so many of them that he really didn't know what to do with them. He didn't have time for them anymore. Gunn had been away, working on a case. Wesley was working with Spike and Buffy in Rome now with the new Slayers. Now, it was just him, and now Faith.

"Well, there are plenty of places to start, and it doesn't seem like there's ever an end to all the cases." Angel told her.

"That sounds like a plan to me," Faith said, "throw one of those files at me."

Angel took the folder that was on the top of the pile and threw it to her. She looked inside and read over the description.

"Who types up these case descriptions for you?" she asked. "They write like a first grader."

"Hey!" Harmony groaned as she walked into Angel's office. "I write those, thank you very much."

Faith couldn't believe who she was seeing standing there. It was all she had in her to not start busting out in laughter. "You've got to be kidding me. This is the Harmony that works for you?"

Angel tried not to laugh. When Harmony had first asked if she could work for him, he had thought it was a big joke too. He thought it was some outrageous plan of hers to get him to trust her, so that she could eventually kill him.

"Angel." Faith said, grinning, "This is Harmony. You know; the one from Sunnydale."

"I know." Angel said.

"She's a vampire."

"I know that too. I thought it was a little ludicrous when she first asked too, but she's not that bad if you can get past her horrible writing skills."

"Hey!" Harmony said again, in that whiny way that made everyone wince at her incredibly high squeal-like voice. "She, who is the Harmony from Sunnydale, with the horrible writing skills, is standing right here!"

"Sorry, Harmony." Angel said.

She grunted and rolled her eyes. "No one appreciates all the hard work and effort I put into this job." With that, she stormed out of Angel's office.

Faith started laughing, and it wasn't long before Angel was laughing with her. They continued laughing for a few moments. Finally, Faith caught her breath, and began looking over the folder that Angel had given her again.

"Ok, looks like I've got a nest of vamps to take out." She said placing the folder back on the desk.

The phone rang, and Angel picked up the receiver. He listened for a few minutes and then said, "Thanks for the heads up, Giles."

He placed the phone back down and looked at Faith. He looked worried. "Faith, we've got a problem. Ok, we've got a few of them actually."

"Spill them out." Faith replied, unworried.

"The first problem is that The First has returned again, but this time he's gotten himself a physical body. Buffy's fought him once already, and he nearly killed her. Willow managed to save her with a teleportation spell."

"Damn." Faith said. There was a look of tension in her eyes at the mention of The First. He had haunted her before, telling her that redemption was impossible and that no one would ever accept the face that she was no long evil.

"That's not all." Angel continued. "You remember how he manipulated that priest, gave him a bunch of power, and made him do his dirty work for him?"

Faith nodded her remembrance.

"Well, he's worked his way into the minds of three slayers, and they're working for him now."


	3. The First

**Redeemed**

**Chapter 2**

**This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fan fiction based on the character, Faith. I do not own any name or reference in this fan-fiction, and all rights concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon.**

**Thanks for the reviews. They get me to thinking up new chapters faster. This chapter is kind of all talk, so I hope I don't bore you. However, it's important to the plot of the story.**

Faith was really starting to worry about their situation now. Buffy had gone up against The First in physical form and come out barely alive, and now he had slayers working for him on top of that. It sounded like an impossible situation. She had to stay strong, though, and see this through to the end; even if that meant the end of her life.

"Well," she said, "When do we leave?"

"Leave for where?" Angel asked.

"Rome. That's where the party is, right?"

"We're not going to Rome. They're coming here. They know that I can't travel because of the sunlight, so they're bringing all of the remaining slayers here."

"Who are 'they'?"

"Buffy, Willow, Giles, Wesley, Dawn, Xander, and the remaining slayers."

"Sounds like a party." Faith replied. She had to act like none of this affected her. If she couldn't be strong when the new slayers arrived, she knew that things would likely fall through.

"Faith, this is going to be a testing situation. We may not survive this." Angel said.

"You're always looking for the reality in things, Angel. I like that about you." She smiled at him. She found that she smiled a lot more since she had gone to prison. She seemed to be a lot happier, like she had something to live for. "So, when does everyone get here?"

"Giles said that they would be getting here sometime tomorrow."

"Ok. When do The First and his groupies get here?"

"Not really sure. We should probably patrol tonight, though." Angel replied. "If we find something, I don't know what we'll do about it, but it will help to at least know it's there."

"Well, if he still has to have someone do his dirty work for him, it must mean that he can't be at full strength right?"

"Buffy fought this guy and he took her down to almost nothing." Angel said. "He almost killed her, remember?"

Faith considered this for a moment. He had a point. Buffy definitely had more experience than she did with slaying, and if he had almost killed Buffy, that meant that she probably didn't stand much better of a chance. Then, something occurred to her.

"Angel, if we have the three of us fighting this guy," she said, "then I'd say we have a good chance of winning. Not to mention some of the more experienced slayers that Buffy's training."

"I already thought about that." Angel replied, "The only thing is, we don't have a weakness for him. When Buffy fought this guy, she said his stamina was unending. He was still going long after she was already worn out."

Faith thought about everything that Angel had told her. She would have to get the rest of the information from Buffy and Giles when they arrived in Los Angeles tomorrow. For now all she could do was patrol and hope that she ran into his slayers and not him.

"I'm going to sweep this part of the city tonight." Faith said, "It's been awhile since I've been on patrol, and I'd like to get right back into things."

"You want me to go with you?" Angel asked.

"No, you don't need to. I'll be fine. One of us should be here anyway, just in case someone calls."

Angel nodded his agreement, and then stood up. He walked over to his weapons cabinet and opened the doors. Then he turned back around to Faith.

"This is my personal collection." He said. "The weapons lab downstairs will have whatever you can't find up here."

"That's what I'm talking about." Faith said smiling. She walked over to the cabinet and started pulling things out and examining them. She finally decided on his wrist-stake projectors. She attached them to her wrists and tested them out.

"These are awesome, Angel. I've got to hand it to you; you've got style in your choice of weaponry."

She started to head for the door, but Angel grabbed her on the shoulder and turned her around.

"What's the hold up, Angel?" She said, annoyed.

"Be careful." He said to her.

"You know me." She said. "I'm five by five."


	4. Hauntings

**Redeemed**

**Chapter 3**

**This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fan fiction based on the character, Faith. I do not own any name or reference in this fan-fiction, and all rights concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon.**

**Thanks for reviewing. I try to work on the next chapters at least once a day.**

Faith walked out of Angel's office and started off down the hall towards the elevator. She pushed the button to go down, and when the elevator arrived she got in and rode down to the lobby. When she walked out of the elevator, she was surprised at who she saw standing in front of her.

"You're Gunn, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, and you're Faith." He replied. "What kind of big bad did Angel get himself into this time? Did he spring you from jail this time?"

"Nope, I'm out. My release date was today."

"That's cool. So, you're living on the sane side of life now, right."

"As sane as anyone on this Earth can be considered." She said, grinning.

"Where are you heading?" He asked, "Did you just drop in for a visit with Angel?"

"No, I'm here for good. I'm working with Angel now." Faith explained. "You showed up just in time too. I don't know how much Angel told you about the First back when Buffy was facing him in Sunnydale, but he's the first evil."

"Yeah, Angel told me."

"Well, he's back and he has a physical form. Not only that, but he has three slayers working for him too."

"You're kidding. Things just keep getting better and better all the time." He said with sarcasm in his voice.

"Go talk to Angel. He can give you the rest of the details. I've got to go and patrol."

"That's cool." Gunn said, "I'll catch you later."

Faith nodded and then headed out the door of Wolfram and Hart. She didn't really know where to start, and she had about a half hour before the sun went completely down anyway. She decided that she would patrol the park first, and then she would make her way in a big circle around the block and end up back at the law firm.

She had brought along angel's wrist stake projectors. If she encountered some vampires she would be well equipped, but if the First was already in Los Angeles with his slayers, she would be unprepared for them.

She walked down the alley that ran alongside the law firm and came out in the back. She knew that if she was going to find vampires, the darkest places would be the most likely place to do so. As she walked, she kept her senses aware of her surroundings. She looked around her frequently, because she also knew that vampires had a tendency to be very sneaky.

It was about an hour later, and she had almost given up hope of finding anything out, when she heard a shrill scream off in the distance. She immediately ran in the direction of the scream. She quickly came up on the source of the scream. It was the same girl that she had encountered the other night. This time, however, she was on the attacking side of the situation.

Faith quickly jumped into the battle, defending the woman that was being beaten by her previous charge. She spun the girl around and looked her in the eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?" She yelled at the girl. "Is this anyway to show appreciation for having your life saved? You just think you can go out and victimize someone else?"

The girl grinned. She looked deep into Faith's eyes, and then she threw her fist out at the slayer. Faith ducked under the first quickly and brought her own up to meet the girl's face. It didn't seem to faze her much, as Faith quickly realized when the girl shrugged it off and planted a roundhouse kick to the side of her head that caused her to stumble and fall to the ground.

Faith quickly got up to meet the girl's advance on her. She activated the wrist stake projector in her right hand, aiming it at the girl's heart. It shot out at the girl, but was quickly snatched out of the air by her.

"This won't stop me, Faith." She sneered. "I'm not a vampire."

"Then, what the hell are you?" Faith demanded. "How do you know my name?"

Faith remained in her fighting stance, even as she interrogated the girl. She couldn't take any chances that the girl might try and attack her again. She was strong, and if she wasn't a vampire, she didn't know what she was.

"Faith, haven't you figured it out yet?" The girl asked. "I'm a Slayer. I'm just like you. My name is Tanya. Not that it matters. You're not going to live long enough for that to mean anything to you."

Damn it, Faith thought to herself, how could I have been so stupid? Of course this girl was a Slayer.

Faith got her game face back on, hoping that Tanya hadn't realized the surprised look in her face. She needed to remain calm and play this through. She had a lot more experience with being the Slayer than this girl, and she needed to play on that weakness.

"You think you can take me? You don't know anything about me." Faith warned.

"I know plenty about you, Faith." Tanya countered. "I know that your watcher was killed by Kiquistos. I know that you accidentally killed a man while patrolling. You felt betrayed, and so you turned evil for a while. You went on a rampage, and got yourself the nickname of 'Rogue Slayer.'"

Faith understood now. This was one of the First's puppet Slayers. She was working for him. There was no other way she could know this much about her past.

"That doesn't mean anything anymore." Faith said. "That's my past. I'm not like that anymore."

"Really?" Tanya questioned. She pulled out a knife from her coat pocket and showed it off to Faith. "Perhaps this can spark some of those old flames."

Faith recognized the knife immediately. It was the knife that Mayor Wilkins had given her as a gift to kill Buffy with five years ago.

"I see you recognize it." Tanya taunted.

Faith ran at Tanya with rage in her eyes. She quickly caught the Slayer off guard with a punch to the face, and followed it up with a kick to the girl's ribcage. Tanya dropped the knife, and swept at Faith's feet with her legs. Faith avoided the attack by quickly jumping over her legs.

She rammed her fist down at Tanya with all her strength, but Tanya avoided the attack by rolling quickly to the side of it. She got up off the ground and backhanded Faith with her fist, which Faith returned almost immediately.

They continued to fight heatedly for a few more minutes, before Faith got her in a deadlock.

"This ends now." Faith said to her. She picked the knife up off the ground, while still holding Tanya in her grasps.

"What are you going to do, Faith?" Tanya asked. "Are you going to kill me?"

Faith knew that she was trying to play with her mind, and she was doing her best to not let it get to her. It was difficult, however, and she could feel the want to kill her rising his her mind.

"Are you going to slide that knife into my stomach just like Buffy slid it into you five years ago?"

Faith had a flashback of the fight with Buffy on the night before Buffy's graduation. She had shot Angel with an arrow that was tipped with poison that could kill vampires slowly and painfully. Buffy had come to her penthouse seeking revenge on her. She remembered how Buffy had told her about the cure being a slayer's blood, and that she had come for hers.

Faith knew that she deserved to be killed that day, and she knew that Buffy had come to do it. She also knew that she wasn't going to let herself get slaughtered to feed a vampire life.

Buffy had fought her in the apartment, and they had both gone through the window onto the roof below her apartment. The fight continued until finally, Buffy caught her off guard and slid her own knife into her. She had fallen from the roof of the apartment building that night, having thought herself to be dead.

Faith came back to her senses and pushed Tanya away from her. She stood there, thinking about that night.

"I knew you didn't have it in you, Faith. You've gone and turned yourself weak. The First is going to have an easy time with you, and I'm going to be there when he finally finishes you off."

Having said that, Tanya ran off into the night, leaving Faith standing there in the middle of the street, with the knife that had nearly killed her five years ago.


	5. The First Encounter

**Redeemed**

**Chapter 4**

**This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fan fiction based on the character, Faith. I do not own any name or reference in this fan-fiction, and all rights concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon.**

**Thanks for reviewing:**

seraphim2db: Thanks for the question. Here's the answer. The First will not be able to shape-shift. He will be hosted in one body, and I already have the person planned out, as you'll see in this chapter, but thanks for offering the help.

Faith stood there a few minutes longer, thinking about the events that had just occurred and the events that had led up to them. She couldn't believe she was standing there holding the weapon that had nearly driven her past the brink of humanity and then had nearly taken her life in the process.

She had had numerous nightmares involving the knife while she had been in a coma in Sunnydale. They all involved Buffy stabbing her, or pulling the knife out of her dead and lifeless body.

She put the knife inside the pocket of her jacket, and started walking back towards Wolfram & Hart. She didn't want to be out patrolling while she was in this state of mind. She needed to think things through and clear her mind of the things she had done in the past.

That's not who I am anymore, she thought to herself. It's not me.

"Isn't it really, Faith?" an eerie voice asked behind her.

She quickly turned around, and found herself face to face with Mayor Wilkins.

"Bo…" She started. Then, she caught herself. "The First."

"See?" He said confidently. "You almost called me boss. If that isn't who you are, then why would you still think of me like that."

Faith thought for a moment. She had to concentrate. She couldn't let The First get to her like this. She had to get out of this alive, and if she wanted to do that she had to be alert.

"So," Faith said, "You've taken on a physical form, huh? I guess that means you aren't exactly the big spook you used to be."

"Actually, I'm a bigger spook than I used to be." He replied.

"Yeah, how so?"

He reached out and tried to grab Faith by the hair, however, she was expecting him to react like that and she quickly dodged him. She threw out a punch that landed firmly on his face. She then swung around and tried the other side, but he was too quick for her. He grabbed her wrist and slung her through the air. She hit a tree and fell to the ground.

He advanced on her, and she quickly met his challenge with a kick to his chest. He barely noticed it, however, and knocked her in the chest with a kick of his own. Faith heard a rib crack as she fell to the ground.

"I'm not going to kill you tonight, Faith." He said. "There's hope for you yet."

"I'll never go back!" Faith yelled at him.

"We'll see."

Just as calmly as he had approached her, The First walked away towards the darkness of the night. Faith just sat and watched him go. Relief flooded over her as she saw him fade from view.

She stumbled to her feet, and once again picked up the knife that held her dreadful past. She put it in her coat, and applying pressure to her chest, she walked back towards Wolfram & Hart.

Faith walked into Angel's office and placed the knife on his desk. He turned around in his chair and looked up at her.

"What happened?" he asked, worried.

"I met up with one of his slayers, we fought, she left, and then The First showed up." She said. "It wasn't a big deal. We had a nice little chat, and then he took off again."

Angel looked at her with concern. He knew that she was lying, and that she had been hurt badly. He got up from his chair and walked into his bathroom. He retrieved a first aid kit before returning to his office. He handed it to her.

"Here." He said. "I knew I shouldn't have let you go out there by yourself."

Faith just looked at him and shrugged it off. "I'm fine, Angel. Five-by-Five."

"That kind of attitude is going to get you killed, Faith. Look what they did to you! You stumble in here, barely walking, with a cracked rib and internal bleeding."

"How do you know I have internal bleeding?" She said.

Angel pointed to where she applied pressure to her chest. "You're trying to stop it right now."

"So, we threw a couple punches. I came out just fine."

"He let you live, didn't he?" Angel questioned. "He could have killed you, and he let you live. What does he look like?"

"I don't remember." She lied.

"Faith, you were a bad liar five years ago, and you haven't gotten any better at it."

Faith looked down and the knife, and then pointed at the knife sitting on Angel's desk. "It was the mayor."

Angel sat on his desk and thought for a moment before getting up and walking over to her. "Faith, you can't let your past take you away from the person that you can be now."

"Angel, I'll be fine. I don't need a pep talk."

"You say you're fine, but I know what it's like to let the past haunt you and cloud your judgments."

Faith knew that there was some truth behind what Angel told her, but if she let her guard down now she wouldn't be able to raise it back up when she needed it the most. She had to get herself out of a situation that would make her weak; a situation that would make her feel.

"Look, Angel," She said. "I'm going to go take a shower, and then I'm going to go try out your little training room. I'm fine, really."

She left his office and walked down the hall to the elevator. When she got down to the first floor, she asked the receptionist where the guest rooms were. The lady looked a little shocked when Faith asked her, because not many people knew that Wolfram & Hart even had guest rooms.

Faith explained to the receptionist that she had been here before and had been offered the guest rooms. This seemed to satisfy the girl's curiosity, so she told Faith where to go.

Faith took a shower, the water as hot as it would allow, and then redressed in her room. She wrapped herself with gauze around the chest where the rib had been broken. It felt like she was being stabbed all over again with each wrap that she made around the wound.

Faith considered actually going to see if they had a training room, but instead she just lay back on her bed and just sat there thinking about everything that had happened tonight. She had just gotten out of jail, and already she found herself in a situation where she would be back out in the world fighting for her life.

She knew that she was the Slayer and that it was her responsibility to fight "the vampires, demons, and forces of darkness", as the prophecy explained, but sometimes she just felt like she couldn't live past the next moment. As she lay there on her bed, thinking, she started to cry. It wasn't long before she had cried herself into a deep sleep.


	6. Battered and Bruised

**Redeemed**

**Chapter 5**

**This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fan fiction based on the character, Faith. I do not own any name or reference in this fan-fiction, and all rights concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon.**

**Thanks for reviewing:**

Faith woke up the next morning and completely disregarded what had happened the previous night before. Overnight, her rib had stopped hurting her, and it wouldn't be long before the wound itself healed.

She left her room, making sure she had her game face on as to not show any emotion that might allow people to see into what she had felt the night before. She walked up to Angel's office and walked in, this time without knocking.

She wasn't surprised to see that he was sitting in his chair when she walked in, because it seemed like he was always up. He was a vampire, but even vampires slept. However, if he slept he didn't do it very long. He was sitting there looking over files that had been given to him to look over.

"What's up, Angel?" She asked, sitting in the chair across from his desk. "Have you heard anything new about how to take down the big bad?"

Angel looked up from his work and smiled. "I'm glad to see you're all recovered from last night."

"What's to recover? Five by Five right?" she asked, shrugging.

"That's right." Angel replied.

An awkward silence filled Angel's office as the two of them thought about what had just been discussed. Angel knew that Faith had in fact been hurt in her battle the night before, but at the same time he also understood that Faith would never let on to that. Faith realized that Angel knew she was keeping her pain a secret, but this was going to be a rough ride and she had to be at her fullest if they were going to defeat The First. Thinking of The First again sprung up a question in her mind.

"You knew didn't you?" Faith asked Angel.

"Knew what?" he replied.

"When you talked to Giles and the others, he told you that The First had taken on the form of the mayor didn't he?"

Angel knew in his mind that this question would come up. He had been told by Giles about the form that The First had taken on. He had run the thought of telling her or not through his head the whole time they had been discussing her patrolling that night. He had decided that it would be best if she were confronted with it herself instead of knowing going into it.

"Yeah," Angel said in an apologetic tone, "I knew. I'm sorry, Faith. I thought it would be better if you didn't have those thoughts going through your head."

Faith considered his words for a moment before she spoke again. "Did you think that I would turn again?"

"No, that wasn't it…I mean…" Angel stumbled.

"It's ok." Faith said. "If I had been in your situation, I wouldn't have trusted me either."

"I should have. You've proven yourself numerous times that you are rehabilitated. I should have trusted that you could handle it."

Faith was hurt inside. Angel had been the one person she had expected to be able to trust her the most following the events five years ago. Wesley had broken her out of jail to help Angel when his soul was removed two years ago. She had risked her life to save his, because she refused to take him out unless it was the last resort. However, she wouldn't let on to her distress over the situation.

Suddenly, there was a knock on Angel's door, and following shortly after Angel's phone rang. He picked the phone up first, and after a minute set it back down. He walked over and answered the door. Standing on the other side was Buffy, Willow, Kennedy, Giles, Xander, and a few other slayers.

Buffy walked in first. Her right arm was wrapped up in a sling, and she used the left to support the weight of one leg as the other was in a cast. She wore a shirt that under normal circumstances would show her midriff, but where her stomach would have been only gauze was visible. Her face was bruised, and she had a gash on her right cheek.

Angel was stunned at the sight of her. He knew that she had had a rough fight with The First, but he didn't know that it was to this extent. She looked him straight in the eyes.

"He's strong, Angel." She said, tears welling up in her eyes, "He's so strong…"

She planted her face into Angel's chest and began sobbing uncontrollably.


	7. Unwelcome Visit

**Redeemed**

**Chapter 6**

**This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fan fiction based on the character, Faith. I do not own any name or reference in this fan-fiction, and all rights concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon.**

**Thanks for reviewing**

Faith saw Buffy walk in and what in shock at what she saw. Buffy had been beaten up pretty badly. No slayer had done this. She had had an encounter with The First. The First hadn't been interested in fighting Faith. He wanted her on his side, and that's why he chose the form he did.

Faith walked over to Buffy and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "God, Buffy, look what he did to you."

Angel helped her over to a chair, and she sat down. Willow and Kennedy came over and sat down on the other side of her. Faith looked very forcefully over to Giles. She hadn't seen him since she left Sunnydale five years ago. She wondered what he was thinking about her right now.

"Giles." She said awkwardly.

"Hello, Faith." He replied with a kind of half smile. "You are well I presume?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

Willow got up abruptly; her eyes turned black. She looked towards the door. There standing in the entrance was the slayer that Faith had fought the previous night before. Tanya looked over at Willow. Cautiously she stepped aside, and in through the door walked The First.

"Thicken!" Willow shouted.

There was a ripple of magic in front of the door as the air around The First closed up. He pushed his way though it in seconds, however, and simply smiled over at her.

"That didn't work last time you tried it, Willow." He said. "What made you think it would work this time?"

"Sanctums of the inner realm I call…" Willow started.

Suddenly, an arrow shot through the air towards her. Tanya had a crossbow in her possession and she had fired it at the witch. Willow jumped, but the arrow was quickly snatched out of the air by Faith before it could even reach her.

Kennedy immediately started towards Tanya, but Faith held her hand up to stop her. Faith had fought her the night before and had nearly lost the battle. She knew that if Tanya had been that much of a challenge for her, that Kennedy wouldn't stand a chance.

"She's mine!" Kennedy sneered.

Faith turned around to glare at her. "You would lose. Protect Willow while she works her magic, and I'll deal with Tanya."

The First stepped forward towards Faith. "Perhaps you are ready to join back up with me?"

"Not going to work this time." Faith said confidently. "It's one thing to get me by myself and try to haunt me with the past. It's another thing altogether to expect me to betray my friends."

"As you wish!"

The First shot his fist out and hit Faith before she could even think about blocking the attack. She flew through the air with impact of the blow. She hit Angel's desk, shattering it to pieces as she went through it.

"Sanctums of the inner realm I call, before me let the unclean thing crawl!" Willow shouted.

Angel recognized the spell that would turn any normal person into a rat. However, he knew that it wouldn't work on the first. Faith got up and looked in the direction that Willow had cast her spell. She noticed that Tanya was flaring with magic and shrinking down. Soon, the slayer was a rat crawling around on the floor.

The First went for Willow, but Faith was faster. She knocked Willow and Kennedy out of the way and shoved his fist into the gut of The First. She brought her other hand above and behind his head and pushed it down to meet her knee. She then pushed him backwards towards the wall.

The First slammed against the wall and came back, not feeling the affect of the attacks at all. He brushed himself off, just like the mayor would have done, and started walking back towards her for more. He brought a big smile to his face, finding Faith's attempts to hurt him humorous.

"Is that all you've got, Slayer?" he asked her tauntingly.

Faith ran at The First with all she had, and then launched herself into the air. She struck out with both feet, planting a double kick on him. She fell to the ground, but he acted as if he were barely affected at all. She got up again, however, and went after him again. This time, Kennedy and Angel ran at him too. Angel grabbed one arm, Kennedy the other. Faith kicked him in the front of each kneecap.

Together, the three of them somehow managed to pull him towards the window. They all kicked and punched at The First, desperately trying to get him through the window. Then, Willow stepped behind him.

"Shatter!" She yelled.

Angel, Faith, and Kennedy shielded their eyes as the window before them burst into shards of flying weapons. The First now stood before an open window.

"Light as a feather, thick as a board. Take flight with evil, and be no more!"

The First's arms were pinned down to his sides as his legs locked together. He was carried up in the heavy gust that had been produced by the spell of a very ticked off Willow. He was thrown out the window, and the last they saw of him was him hurtling towards the ground.

"That won't kill him." Faith said. "We've got to go after him.

"No," Angel replied, "we were lucky this time. We can't just chase after him. He'll kill us. He underestimated us this time, but he won't let that happen again."

Angel looked out the window. "Plus, I can't follow right now. The sun's still up."

Willow glanced at the shards of glass all over the floor, and instantly they flew back up into the window pane and magically fixed themselves back into place.

"Willow, that's quite some power you've got behind you." Faith said.

"Yeah," She said, uneasily, "I've had some problems in the past with it. You know, I went all evil and what not."

"I heard about that, but wasn't it you that released the power of the slayers last year when we went into the hell mouth?"

"Yeah, it was. That was the biggest spell I had done since I tried to destroy the world."

Faith noticed how uncomfortable Willow was with the topic of conversation, and so she dropped it. She instead started walking around, trying to think of a way to get rid of The First.


	8. Interrogation

**Redeemed**

**Chapter 7**

**This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fan fiction based on the character, Faith. I do not own any name or reference in this fan-fiction, and all rights concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon.**

Faith continued to walk around Angel's destroyed office, trying hard to think of some way to get rid of The First. Angel and the others were working on the problem as well, and Angel had all of his employees on the task too. Wesley and Gunn had been told to head out of town, because Angel feared that they would be in danger if they stayed. However, both of them shrugged this idea off, saying that they had faced an apocalypse together just the previous year and all had survived.

"I can't come up with anything!" Faith shouted out in frustration.

"Why don't we see what our little rat knows?" Willow replied, smiling at the rat she held in her hands.

Tanya squirmed in Willow's hands, trying desperately to get free. Willow hadn't used such a simple spell in a long time, and it was Amy, a young witch turned evil that they knew from high school, whom Willow had reversed the spell on before. Now, with Tanya in her hands, helpless, they had the perfect person in which to interrogate for information about The First.

Willow placed the rat on the floor and said, "Dispel and release from my power!"

The rat instantly made the transformation back to Tanya, the slayer. She went to flee for the door, but Willow knew this would happen.

"Thicken!" Willow said.

The air around the young slayer closed up tight as Willow's magic made it take on the consistency of tar. Tanya would not be able to fight the power of the spell like The First had done earlier, and Glory the god had done before.

"Talk, Tanya." Faith demanded. "What do you know about The First?"

"I know he's going to kill you all." Tanya said.

Faith made an advance on her, but Willow held up her hand to stop her.

"If you make an advance into that spell, you'll be caught in it too."

Faith nodded and instead circled around her. She would get the information out of her one way or another. If that involved beating it out of her, Faith had no problem with doing that. Her friends' lives and hers were at stake, and she wouldn't hesitate to do whatever was necessary to make sure that they were kept safe.

"What do you think he's going to do to you when he's finished off all of us!" Faith yelled at her. "Huh? Do you think he's going to let you live when he's done with us? He'll kill you too!"

"You're wrong. The First has promised me great strength; even more strength then that of a slayer."

"You'll never be strong." Faith said. "You're weak, and you'll always be weak. The first big bad that crossed your path and you cowered in fear. You're not a slayer. You're just a coward with strength you don't know how to use."

Tanya sneered. "What would you know? You resorted to becoming a psychotic bitch when your life got rough. All those killings, Faith, and you think you're suddenly so righteous?"

Faith knew that Tanya was trying to get inside her mind again, but the memories still haunted her. All the way from the time she had accidentally killed that man in the alley with her own stake, to the time she had tortured Wesley in the apartment building. All those memories flooded through her mind as Tanya taunted her from within Willow's spell.

"Faith, don't let her get to you." Angel said. "She's been working under The First. She knows all your deep dark secrets, but that's not you anymore."

Faith turned and looked Angel right in the eyes. Wasn't that who she still was in some ways? She still thrived for the kills. She liked being the slayer. She liked to hunt the things of darkness. Did it really matter what she was killing? She still enjoyed it.

"Angel, I'm not so sure anymore." She replied. "I'm still the killer I was three years ago, aren't I?"

"No, you're not."

Buffy, who had gone to rest, walked into Angel's office. She walked over and placed her hand on Faith's shoulder. She grimaced in the act of sympathy, her arm still hurt from her battle with The First.

"I went through a time where I thought all I was here for was to kill." Buffy explained. "I wondered whether or not the fact that I enjoyed it made me just as bad as the demons I hunted. There's a difference between us and them, though."

"Yeah," Faith said, "what is it?"

"The difference is that we have a purpose for the killing that we do. We do it to protect people who can't protect themselves. We don't kill just for the sake of the kill."

Buffy rounded on Tanya. "Now you, you're a different story. You are just like the demons that we hunt. You barely have a soul."

"Buffy…" Angel started, but Buffy held up her hand to silence him.

"You were born into a heritage of protectors from the very evil that you're working under to protect. Now, you tell me what you know about The First or I'll kill you myself!"

Buffy's words had obviously penetrated Tanya's mind. Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she began crying. She collapsed to the floor, and as she did so, Willow dropped her hold on the spell.

Faith had caught on to Buffy's method of interrogation. She walked confidently over to Tanya and grabbed her around the neck. She picked the girl up with one arm as if she were no more than a doll.

"You heard her," Faith threatened, "now you tell us what you know."

Faith dropped her to the floor, and she wasn't gentle in the way she did so. Tanya scooted away from her in fear; the same fear that had made her bend to the will of The First.

"I don't know anything about him," She said finally, "and as far as I can tell, there's no way to beat him. He's invincible."

"There are no invincible beings in this world." Faith said. "Buffy took out a god four years ago, and they're about as high up as any demon gets."

"The First is different. The First is more than a god. He's pure evil."


	9. Realization

**Redeemed**

**Chapter 8**

**This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fan fiction based on the character, Faith. I do not own any name or reference in this fan-fiction, and all rights concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon.**

**Sorry for the really short chapter, but there's a reason for it.**

Faith circled around to the back of Tanya, partly to hide the worry that she knew was now shown on her face. She knew that The First was the first ever evil to be brought into the world. It was said that there had always been evil, and it had started with him. The First, being evil, started consuming people and beings to be just as evil as he was. Eventually, vampires and other demons started forming from the people and beings that were being consumed by the thrall of The First.

A group of ancient elders knew that something had to be done to stop The First. So, together they found the most powerful demon and they took the demon's power away from him and placed it into a girl. That girl became the first slayer. This slayer would leave behind a legacy when she was killed. She would pass on her power to another girl, another slayer.

Faith remembered the story of their creation. She knew that the power within her had once been the power that had been created by The First and used by those ancient elders so long ago. Three years ago they had fought The First, but they had overcome his apprentice, Caleb. Now, they were fighting him in a physical body, and Faith wasn't so sure that what Tanya said wasn't true.

"Faith," Angel said, "are you ok?"

Faith snapped out of her daze. She looked over to see Angel and the others, Tanya included, looking at her. She knew that she had been thinking about the possibility that they might not be able to stop The First.

"Yeah," she replied, "I'm fine."

She looked around the room once more before walking over to the door. She needed to get away for a while. She needed to be somewhere that wasn't here.

"I'm going to go patrol." Faith said to the others in the room.

"Faith," Kennedy replied, "I don't think that's such a good idea right now. We have no idea where The First is. If you encounter him while you're out there, you'll be killed."

"Well, I can't just stand around here and wait for him to make a move."

"Then I'm going with you." Angel said.

"No, I'll be fine."

Faith knew that she didn't seem very confident, but she wanted to be alone. She needed them to realize that she wasn't going to break. She was stronger than that. She had to do this, alone.

"Faith, this is no time to be acting like you're unstoppable," Buffy said, determination in her eyes, "because for all we know right now, The First is unstoppable."

Faith considered her words for a moment, and then she walked out of the door. She calmly walked down the hall to the elevator and pressed the down button. The elevator door opened and she stepped inside.

Walking out the door of Wolfram & Hart, Faith started off down the street. Eventually, he walk became faster paced, and then she ran. She ran, because she was afraid. Faith was afraid of losing her friends to an unstoppable evil. Faith had never been so afraid of anything in her life, and now she just wanted to hide away in a hole and make the world and all its problems go away.

She ran as far as she could, until she eventually reached the beach that Angel had once fought at for the Ring of Amara. She walked out onto the dock and stood, looking out at the ocean and all its beauty.

While she stood there, thinking about everything that she had gone through to get to where she was today; all the battles, all the haunting dreams, the betrayals, and the heartaches that had come to be because of her, she finally realized what it was that she must do. She knew how to defeat The First, and so once again, she ran.


	10. The Plan

**Redeemed**

**Chapter 8**

**This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fan fiction based on the character, Faith. I do not own any name or reference in this fan-fiction, and all rights concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon.**

Faith ran with determination all the way back to Wolfram & Hart. She knew the answer to their problem, if only it could be pulled off. She ran past the secretary that was sitting at the front desk in the lobby, despite the frantic cries of the woman for her to come back so they could check her authorization.

Unwilling to wait for the elevator to make its way down the stories of the giant law firm, she ran the stairs all the way to the top floor where Angel's office was. She ran into the room, not needing to stop and open the door, because it had been knocked off its hinges during the earlier attack by The First.

"Faith, what's wrong?" Angel asked, seeing how out of breath she was.

"I know how to get rid of The First." Faith replied confidently.

Faith ran over to the weapons cabinet and started pulling everything out of it. She pulled everything from swords, to throwing stars, and even stake launchers that would do nothing against any of their foes. She looked over at Angel and the rest of her friends in the room when she was finished.

"Everyone pick your favorite toy," Faith told them, "we're going to annihilate The First."

"Faith," Angel said a little impatiently, "what are you playing at? You know that none of this stuff is going to put even a dent in The First. We have to think of something else."

Faith wasn't listening, however, as she started strapping weapons to her. She strapped a saber sheath comfortably across her chest, and then she pulled the saber itself out and inspected it. Approving of the choice she had made, Faith slipped it back into its sheath.

"Willow, can I talk to you alone?" Faith asked.

Willow was unsure of what Faith's intentions were, but she knew that she meant business. It was obvious that Faith had a plan; whether or not it was just last minute panicking or not was to be seen. Nonetheless, Willow played along with her and went outside the office to speak with Faith alone.

The others, not really sure what was going on, began to pull on weapons as well. They only knew that if Faith was going to face The First, in a sensible way or not, that they would have no choice but to help her. Her mind was settled, and they couldn't very well allow her to go in by herself. It would be suicide.

No one was paying attention to Tanya now, because they were too busy preparing for whatever it was that Faith had going in her mind. She quickly slipped out the door and down the hall before anyone gave it a second thought. It was Kennedy who noticed when the girl had fled.

"She's gone." Kennedy said.

"Who's gone?" Buffy asked, in an annoyed tone. She still didn't believe that Faith was going to go after The First half cocked.

"Tanya's fled."

Angel and Buffy looked over to where Tanya had been sitting, and sure enough, the slayer had fled. No one had seen her get up and run out of the office, because they were all too busy with making preparations.

"We can't worry about her right now," Angel said, "we have to worry about what Faith is about to do."

Faith and Willow returned, a look of resolve across Faith's face, and Willow grabbed some magical supplies from the stuff that she had brought along with her. She was obviously preparing to do some pretty heavy magic, because Willow rarely ever needed the supplies that she had brought along for anything but heavy magic.

"Willow…" Buffy started.

"I can't let you know what I'm going to, Buffy." Willow replied, "It will be safer for you if you just don't know."

Willow had said it in a serious tone that told Buffy that she meant business. Whatever Willow and Faith had talked about out in the hall, Faith had made her swear not to tell the others. That told Buffy that it was either suicide, or it was going to cause a lot of trouble for them in the long run.

Finally, Faith took a seat and placed her head in her hands. She pulled her shoulder length hair back and looked up at the ceiling. Then, she got up from where she was sitting and looked straight at everyone in the room.

"I know that I really haven't given you guys a lot of time to think about what we're about to do," Faith said, "but just trust that I know what I'm doing. I don't want anyone to die in this battle, but just know going into it that there's a great possibility of that happening."

Faith looked around at the others to see if they comprehended everything that she was telling them. If anyone got cold shouldered in the face of the upcoming battle, it would surely cost them their life. Faith needed them to know that, so that as many people as possible could survive the ordeal.

"We're going to go to where The First is hanging out," Faith explained, "and we're going to send that bastard straight back to the hell dimension that he spawned out of."

"I have one problem with that plan." Buffy replied, confidently, "We don't know where The First is, and even if we did, we don't know the first thing about how we're going to stop him."

"We don't know where The First is B, but she does."

Faith pointed over towards the door, and standing in the doorway was Tanya. She had started to run away, and then she had stopped. She hadn't been forced to come back, but she did. Tanya had told Faith that she wanted to make a difference, and she wanted to be part of the heritage that protected those that couldn't protect themselves.

"I want to help," Tanya said, "and I can take you to where The First is staying."

"Why should we trust you?" Angel demanded.

"Because, Angel," Faith replied for her, "if we don't, I can't put my plan into action."

Faith gave one last look to the people standing in the room, before she motioned for the others to follow Tanya out the door. The young and frightened slayer led them out the door of Wolfram & Hart and down the street. They took a left at the first intersection, and Angel, with a coat over his head for the last few minutes of daylight, wondered where Tanya could possibly be taking them.

She took them down a few more streets, and when they thought they were being led astray, they finally rounded the corner to be confronted with a huge abandoned warehouse. However, the warehouse only appeared abandoned on the outside, because it was housing to The First.

"Here's the plan." Faith said, after taking a surveillance of the area around them, "We're going to go in and kill anything that moves. Just like in the hell mouth, right B?"

Buffy couldn't believe what Faith was talking about. What she was telling them was a suicide mission. She knew all too well the price to pay for going into a battle unready for what they would be facing. She had nearly lost the trust of everyone she knew the night she had taken them all into the winery, not knowing what was in store for them when they got down there.

"Faith, I don't think this is a …" She started to reply, but Faith cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"I know that it doesn't sound like the greatest plan, but that's where I come in. Stick around and see how it ends."

With that in mind, Faith led the way into the warehouse, and before them stood The First and the other two slayers. They were accompanied by four vampires and three werewolves. The First alone would be enough to take everyone that was there with them out of existence, and Faith expected them to fight off all of these demons and still be alive to face The First.

"Give us a kiss." Faith said confidently. Then, all hell broke loose.


	11. Redeemed

**Redeemed**

**Chapter 10**

**This is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel fan fiction based on the character, Faith. I do not own any name or reference in this fan-fiction, and all rights concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon.**

Fighting broke out in all directions of the warehouse. Buffy and Angel went straight for the two slayers, as Tanya and Kennedy went towards the werewolves. Willow immediately began to set up for what she was about to do.

Faith went towards The First, but the four vampires cut her off almost immediately. She threw out her fist and punched one of them head on in the face, sending him immediately to the ground. Two more of them grabbed her arms in an effort to hold here, while another came at her from the front.

Faith used the constraints of the vampires against them as she did a back flip with the support of the vampires that were holding her. On her way over she kicked the third vampire, sending him flying across the room. The two vampires that were holding her let go immediately, but it was two late. Faith pulled the saber from its sheath across her chest and decapitated both of them in one swing.

The two remaining vampires came at her again, and she used the saber to kill them as she plunged it through each of their hearts. She kept going, searching frantically for where The First had run off to. It wasn't like him to hide out.

While Faith was looking around for The First, Buffy and Angel were fighting off the two slayers that were still working for him. Buffy was countering one of the girls' punches and kicks just as fast at the other was throwing them out. She was doing a good job of keeping up with her until Angel flew out of the sky and landed on her.

They both got back up as quickly as possible and switched foes. Buffy was now facing the slayer that Angel had been fighting, and vice versa. Angel punched the slayer in the face, and then grabbed her behind the head. He brought her face down to meet his knee, and as she fell to the floor he looked her straight in the eyes.

"You're making a mistake." He told her. "You don't want to work for him. As soon as we're out of the way, you're next."

"You're wrong, vampire!" The confused slayer yelled back at him. "The First has offered us power beyond anything imaginable."

She launched herself up to a standing position again, using only the power in her back and legs. She immediately threw out a punch that landed Angel on the ground again. She produced a stake from inside her jacket, and started walking confidently towards Angel.

"I believe this is what you fear the most." She said, trying to taunt her victim.

"Now you're wrong." Angel said as she plunged the stake down at him. He caught her wrist in his hand. "I don't fear death. I've been to hell once, and it's not all it's cracked up to be."

With the flick of his wrist, Angel snapped the girls arm. Keeping hold of it, he used her weight to pull himself off the ground. Then, he grabbed her by the neck, still holding her arm, and launched her through the air. She landed on the ground and hit her head on the rim of a barrel. She just lay there, unconscious.

Buffy was doing circles with the other slayer. Buffy could have easily taken the girl out, as she was quickly starting to lose her stamina. This other slayer hadn't been fighting for as long as Buffy had, and she didn't know how to balance out her fighting so as not to tire out too quickly.

However, Buffy was trying to persuade the girl, just as Angel had when he was fighting the other that this wasn't the way to go out.

"You need to stop, Robin." Buffy said. "You helped up fight The First before. You went with us down into the hellmouth. Now you're working for him!"

"He's offered me so much more than you ever offered me." Robin replied. "He never once told us that we might die. You told us going into the hellmouth that there was a possibility that we might not come out alive. You scared the hell out of us, just so you could be called the hero in the end. You never cared about us."

"That's not true." Buffy replied, impatiently dodging the girl's attacks. "I cared more for you girls than you could ever imagine. Do you think that The First cares whether or not you live or die today? Do you think that if I killed you right now, and you know I could, that he would stop for one second to mourn your death?"

"The First told us that he would protect us from you. He told us to just fight a little longer and he would kill anyone who tried to harm us."

Suddenly, Buffy was grabbed from behind and thrown through the air with great force. She hit the ceiling of the warehouse and then came falling back down to the ground. She got up off the floor weakly, and looked to her attacker, The First.

"I did tell you that I would protect you didn't I?" The First asked Robin.

"Yes," she replied, "thank you."

The First grabbed her by the neck and with just the twitch of his wrist he had snapped her neck. Robin was suspended in the air, dead in The First's grasp. He dropped her to the floor of the warehouse as if she were nothing more than a rag doll.

"I lied." He said calmly.

Buffy started to run at The First, but she was quickly stopped by Angel. Angel motioned behind The First. He turned around, only to be confronted by Faith. She swung the saber down and hit him at the base of his neck. This, however, did nothing as the saber shattered into shards of metal.

"Did you honestly think that you could kill me with a weapon forged by man?" He asked her.

"No," Faith replied, "but it was fun."

She kicked him in the chest and then immediately brought her fist up to his face. She didn't slow even for a second as she continued to throw attack upon attack at The First. She jumped over him, grabbing his head as she did so and brought it down as she landed on her feet. She sent a knee into his face, and then pushed him back towards some crates that were lined up against the wall.

The First came for her, but she had learned that you had to be quick when fighting him, because attacks weren't what were going to kill him. She knew what it was that would kill him, and she was ready to put into action the plan that she had devised with Willow.

"Willow, now!" Faith yelled.

All eyes turned towards Willow as she began to do an incantation. Her eyes turned black, and she held her hands out in front of her. She was conjuring some heavy magic, because the items that she had brought with her for the ritual were suspended in the air by the power of the magic behind her words.

"Power of the darkness, heed my call. I call upon the powers of the demon ancient whose strength dwells in the bodies of mortals. Bring forth your essence from these bodies of mortals previously housed with your power and thrust it all into this willing host. Come now, with my words, I summon thee!"

Willow finished the incantation and a powerful surge of power was manifested inside her circle of magical items. Out of the magical power came white voids and everyone in the room knew what they were. They were the souls of slayers previous who had died before them. Soul after soul shot into Faith's body, knocking her body around with the power behind them.

Finally, the souls stopped coming and the void of power ceased to be. Faith got up from the ground effortlessly and turned to face The First.

"Are you ready for the fight of your life?" Faith asked. "I am."

The First, now extremely ticked off by the show and over confident slayer, came rushing at Faith full force. He threw out his fist towards Faith, but she merely held up her hand and grabbed it as if it were a little kid trying to slap her.

"Who has the power now?"

Faith threw out her other fist and knocked The First back with a blow that sent him flying through the air and into the wall. She ran at him and threw herself up into the air, barely trying. She launched her legs out at him and kicked him with both, and instead of falling to the ground this time, she sprung backwards with her own force and landed on her feet.

The others just stared in wonder as Faith fought The First with power that they had never seen before. Faith had been indwelled by the powers of all the slayers that had lived and died before them, and she was using that power to fight The First. The First couldn't grasp the power she had now, and everyone in the room was oblivious to just how powerful she really was.

Only Willow knew the repercussions of such power being housed in one mortal body, but she had been asked by Faith to not tell anyone until it was too late. This was the only way, Faith had explained to her, and she knew that if Willow told the others of her plan that they would try and talk her out of it.

Faith continued to fight The First, just as effortlessly as he had fought each of them in the beginning. Soon, it would be over as they saw The First tiring out for the first time. Faith kneed him in the head after having grabbed him once again from behind, and he flew back towards the wall one more.

She didn't stop as she continued to pummel him with blow after blow of her fists and her legs. She was paying The First back for every life that he had ever cost to others. He was avenging the deaths of every slayer that had lived and died by his hand.

Finally, it ended as Faith jumped up onto his shoulders. As she stood there, balanced by only her own strength she bent down and grabbed The First's head in her hands. Pulling straight up and jumping off his shoulders with a flip that landed her on her feet, The First's body, head excluded, fell to the ground. He was dead.

Faith immediately started breathing rapidly as the power inside of her became too much for her to hold onto any longer. She dropped The First's head as she lost all control. She heaved and fought against what was happening inside her body, but the consequences of what she had indwelt herself with were unavoidable.

Angel and the others ran over to her as she fell to the floor of the warehouse. She lay there for a few moments longer, and as Angel ran over to her he threw himself down at her and grabbed her head, supporting her.

"Faith…" He said.

She held a hand up to his lips to stop him from talking. She knew what was happening, and she didn't want the sympathy of the others.

"Five by five right, Angel?" She asked.

He nodded as she lay there in his arms. The others, knowing what was coming, started crying.

"Don't shed tears over little ole me," Faith said, "I knew going into this what would happen."

Then, Faith took her last breath. She lay dead in the arms of Angel, redeemed at last.


End file.
